In a direct letter to Apple investors, Apple CEO Tim Cook dramatically lowered revenue guidance by $5 billion for the current fiscal quarter that ended on December 31. He further pointed to revenue expectations hampered by supply network constraints.

The 2018 holiday customer fulfillment surge appears to be occurring rather smoothly for supply chain logistics and transportation services without major visible glitches, but the final crunch comes over the next eight days.

Financial headlines this week are keenly focused on a building decline in technology stocks being led by Apple and its perceived shifting of iPhone product strategy that is now cascading across the hardware supply network.

This weekend marks the official kickoff of the 2018 holiday customer fulfillment surge period which will once again test months of planning and investment in various people, process and technology deployment areas to manage expected high shipment volumes.

A computer virus has reportedly impacted the operations of global semiconductor chip manufacturer TSMC. The report is yet another reinforcement to manufacturing and supply chain IT and operational teams that data and information security must remain a top priority.